Receptacle for dispensing rollable pill containers

ABSTRACT

A pill dispenser having a receptacle for carrying a plurality of sealed pill or capsule rollers each containing one or more doses and adapted to roll by gravity to the dispensing end of the receptacle. Both closed outer ends of the rollers are exposed to view at the dispensing end where they may be separately opened and the roller removed.

United States Patent Davis RECEPTACLE FOR DISPENSING ROLLABLE PILL CONTAINERS James A. Devil, 574 Kielfer Street, Wooster, Ohio 4469! Filed: Dec. 7, 1970 Appl. No.: 95,474

Inventor:

us. Cl. .221/279 1m. (:1 .365; 59/06 mu 0! Sell'ch ..229/7; 206/65 R; 221/219, 211,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Moore ..3 1 2/45 ns] 3,677,440 1451 July 18,1972

3,407,926 10/1968 Roller ..206/65R Primary Examiner-Stutley l-l. Tollberg Anomey-l-lamilton, Renner & Kenner ABSTRACT A pill dispemer having a receptacle for carrying a plurality of sealed pill or capsule rollers each containing one or more doses and adapted to roll by gravity to the dispensing end of the receptacle. Both closed outer ends of the rollers are exposed to view at the dispensing end where they may be separately opened and the roller removed.

Patented July 18, 1972 2 Sheets-Sheet 7;

INVENTOR. g. DAVIS M 6264 1 fin n4 M JAMES ATTORNEYS RECEPIACLE FOR DISPDJSING ROLLAILE PILL CONTAINERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Pills conventionally have been packaged and stored in bottles or boxes. This common practice resulted in an inconvenience in the handling and administration of the pills as well as subjecting them to contamination. To alleviate these drawbacks, a number of pills are now individually packaged. Many of these packages are designed for use in pill dispensers which generally are of the bottom dispensing type with the packages merely being pulled from the bottom of the dispenser as needed. Another prior type of dispenser has a part which must be rotated to a certain position or moved laterally to permit release of a package or a pill. While such dispensers have eliminated many of the shortcomings of the bottle dispensing practice, many have a tendency to foul, jam, or accidentally release a package, and are inconvenient to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel pill dispenser overcoming the disadvantages of prior pill dispensers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pill dispenser which prevents contamination of the pills and is convenient to use.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pill dispenser, as above, which does not foul, jam or accidentally release pills or packages.

These and other objects of the present invention, together with the advantages thereof over existing and prior art forms which will become apparent from the following specification, are accomplished by the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

In general, a pill dispenser has a longitudinal ridge along a bottom portion and side portions which have an opening at one end thereof. Roller pill containers are located in the dispenser with a reduced medial portion of the pfll containers straddling the ridge so that the containers may roll along the receptacle to the opening. Snap-ofl' sealing caps may be pro vided on the ends of the pill containers to permit access to the packaged pills through the openings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the improved pill dispenser.

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view of the pill d'upenser with the lid raised showing several pill containers therein.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a pill container, partly in section.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the pill dispenser with the lid raised.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the pill container shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view showing the pill container of FIG. 6 disassembled.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the pill dispenser with the lid raised.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In general, a pill dispenser according to the concept of the present invention, in which all parts are preferably made of plastic, is indicated by the numeral 10. Three embodiments are shown-FIGS. [-4, FIGS. 5-1 and FIG. I-and, since they are very similar, the common structural features of the embodiments in FIGS. 5-1 and FIG. 8 will not be reiterated when the novel features of these embodiments are later discussed.

Referring to the embodiment contained in FIGS. l4, a receptacle generally indicated by the numeral 12 may be rectangular and has back end wall 13, front end wall 14, bottom wall 15, and side walls Id. The medial portion ofreceptaingl'romoneendtotheotherandisparalleltosides [6. A ateppedopening linshowninFlGS. l andlesistslneach of thesidesatthehontendofthereceptacle. Preferably,the depth of the upper step opening 2| '3 approximately one-half ofthesidewalhwhereasthedepthofthelowerstepnestends to bottom portion 13. At a position approximately transverseofthemid-pointofsteppedopening l9onridge "is an elevated stop rlb ll.

A lid for confining pill containers in the receptacle is generally indicated by the numeral 25. The lid is preferably attachedatitsrearendtoreceptacle llbyhingesloandis retained in a closed position through the resilient interlocking of a tang 21 on its front end with receptacle projection 28. Openings 29 exist on each front corner of the lid end positioned above stepped side openings 19 as shown in FIG. I, and preferably extend rearwardly a distance eoual to that of side openings 19.

The pill containers, each generally indicated by the humeral 30, preferably include two pill-containing roller or drum portions 32 attached to a reduced medial portion 33, which medial portion is aligned with and is slightly wider than receptacle ridge 1?. As seen in FIG. 2, a pill container 30 at the front of the receptacle rolls by gravity and contacts elevated stop 18. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the diameter of the drums are smaller than the depth of receptacle I2 so that one may grasp the container ends through the upper stepped side openings 21 and lid openings 29 and thereby raise medial portion 33 over stop 18, thus placing pill roller 30 adjacent to front end wall 14 and opposite the side openings 22. In this position, as shown in FIG. I, one may remove one or both of the exposed end caps 34 of drums 32. Of course, the width of the lower stepped opening is at least as large as the diameter of the end caps.

To permit facile releme of the pills in drums 32, end caps 34 are rernovably attached to the outer end of the drums 32 by any conventional manner. For example, each cap 34 may have an annular flange 36 which frictionally engages resilient drums 32 to form a force fit (FIG. 4). To further insure that the pills are sealed and to prevent possible contamination, a paper seal (not shown) may be placed between the end cap and the drum. Inspection oi the seals for cracks when the pill containers are received will thus reveal whether the pills may have been contaminated and, upon use of the dispenser, a fully torn seal will reveal that the content of the drums have been used. To assure that the pills are properly identified, the necessary and pertinent information concerning the medication may be affixed to both the receptacle and the drums, either by labels or by imprinting. Preferably, each drum 32 contains a dosage which is usually a single pill or capsule 38. However, where desired, two or more pills or capsules may be contained in each drum.

Receptacle i2 is, of course, filled by placing the first pill container against stop 18 and placing additional pill containers in the receptacle rearwardly of this container so long as space permits. With the lid closed, the dispenser is ready for use and all that one need do is to lift the pill container abutting the stop over stop [8 and dhpense a dosage by removing exposed end cap 34. The end pill container is, of course, normally maintained in the disperuer by the lid retaining the pill container on ridge 1? and by the side wall portions below openings 2!. When the contents of both drums have been removed, the lid is ra'ued, the empty pill container is discarded, and the lid is closed. If another pill container is not abutting stop 18, tilting of receptacle 12 will cause another pill container 30 to roll into place against stop ll. Since receptacle ridge 17 engages reduced medial portion 33, thereby guiding the pill container, hang-ups or jamming of the pill containers are prevented.

Although dhpenser receptacle II has been described as preferably having side portions 16, for certain purposes the side portions may be omitted, exposing the ends of the pill containers therein for removal as desired, without raising the cle bottom wall 15 has an inner longitudinal ridge 17 extendreceptacle lid. In such case the lid and bottom wall may be slightly narrower making the ends of the containers readily accessible. Thus, the ends of the pill containers or the end caps on either side of the receptacle are always exposed and may be selectively pulled off to provide a dosage. The provision of the ridge engaging the medial portion of the pill containers will, of course, always prevent the pill containers from being pulled out of the receptacle if the lid is closed. Furthermore, since the pill container ends are exposed. and may be readily grasped, there is no need for lid openings 29 or the elevated stop 18.

A modified form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. in this embodiment, the pill container, generally indicated by the numeral 40, unlike the pill container 30 shown in FIGS. 1-4, has a separable reduced portion or spool 41 which frictionally engages the inner open ends of resilient drums 43 to form a closure therefor. However, the spool end of the drum may have a separate closure, in which case the other end may be provided with an end cap (not shown) in a manner as shown in FIG. 4. in either event, the drums may serve as a medicine cup and be given to the patient, thereby eliminating any handling of the dosage.

To provide for facile separation of the drums, a bottom opening 44 is preferably provided at the corners of the receptacle bottom merging with the side openings 22 so that one may securely grasp the drum on the top and bottom portions. An opening 45 provided in front end wall 14 allows the ejection of the spool when each drum has been removed and thus makes it unnecessary to open lid 25 each time a spool is to be discarded.

Another modified form of the invention is shown in FIG. 8. This embodiment is similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 in that the pill container 40 has drums 43 which separate from spool 41 and that the receptacle has a spool opening 45 and bottom openings 44. However, side opening 51 is not stepped, as in the other embodiments, but is aligned with bottom openings 44 and is, of course, slightly larger than the diameter of the drums so that the drums may be removed through the side openings of the receptacle. Receptacle ridge 52, unlike the other embodiments, has a groove 53 which extends from back wall 13 to approximately a point transverse of side opening 51. A biasing means, generally indicated by the numeral 55, which may consist of a spring 56 coiled about a tube 57, is located in the groove and through plate 58 attached to one end of the spring contacts and automatically forces any pill containers forwardly, holding the front container against the end wall. Since receptacle ridge 52 has no elevated stop at the from end, the pill containers are pushed to the front end of the receptacle, and thus a pill container or a drum is always ready for dispensing, but prevented from accidentally dropping out of the container.

it should thus be evident that a pill dispenser constructed according to the concept of the present invention, as described herein, accomplishes the aforementioned objectives and otherwise substantially improves the pill dispenser art.

What is claimed is:

l. A pill dispenser comprising,

a. a bottom wall, an end wall and side portions;

b. a longitudinal inner ridge along the bottom wall;

c. at least one pill container located in the dispenser having a reduced medial portion rollably engaging said ridge;

d. an end of said container being exposed at least at one end of the dispenser, and

e. said pill container being exposed because at least one said side portion has an opening at one end thereof so that only the end of the pill container adjacent said opening in said side portion is exposed.

2. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pill container has at least one end cap removably attached to said end of said pill container.

3. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ridge has an elevated stop transversely of said side opening so that said medial portion abuts said stop.

4. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said pill container includes drums on each end of said reduced portion; and

b. the diameter of said pill container is less than the depth of said side portions so that when said pill container is in an elevated position said reduced portion clears said stop.

5. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. a lid normally connects the end walls and confines the container; and

b. said lid has at least one corner opening at the front end positioned above said side opening.

6. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein:

a. said container includes drums on each end of said reduced portion;

b. said drums removably engage said reduced portion; and

c. the end of the dispenser adjacent said side openings has an opening therein so that said reduced portion can pass through said dispenser end opening when said drums are removed from said reduced portion.

7. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 6, wherein the dispenser bottom portion has an opening at least one corner merging with said side opening.

8. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 6, wherein:

a. said ridge has a groove;

b. a biasing means is located in said groove; and

c. a plate attached to one end of said biasing means contacts and forces said pill containers toward the end of the dispenser having said side openings.

9. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 8, wherein said biasing means is a coiled spring. 

1. A pill dispenser comprising, a. a bottom wall, an end wall and side portions; b. a longitudinal inner ridge along the bottom wall; c. at least one pill container located in the dispeNser having a reduced medial portion rollably engaging said ridge; d. an end of said container being exposed at least at one end of the dispenser, and e. said pill container being exposed because at least one said side portion has an opening at one end thereof so that only the end of the pill container adjacent said opening in said side portion is exposed.
 2. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said pill container has at least one end cap removably attached to said end of said pill container.
 3. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ridge has an elevated stop transversely of said side opening so that said medial portion abuts said stop.
 4. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said pill container includes drums on each end of said reduced portion; and b. the diameter of said pill container is less than the depth of said side portions so that when said pill container is in an elevated position said reduced portion clears said stop.
 5. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. a lid normally connects the end walls and confines the container; and b. said lid has at least one corner opening at the front end positioned above said side opening.
 6. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 1, wherein: a. said container includes drums on each end of said reduced portion; b. said drums removably engage said reduced portion; and c. the end of the dispenser adjacent said side openings has an opening therein so that said reduced portion can pass through said dispenser end opening when said drums are removed from said reduced portion.
 7. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 6, wherein the dispenser bottom portion has an opening at least one corner merging with said side opening.
 8. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 6, wherein: a. said ridge has a groove; b. a biasing means is located in said groove; and c. a plate attached to one end of said biasing means contacts and forces said pill containers toward the end of the dispenser having said side openings.
 9. A pill dispenser, as set forth in claim 8, wherein said biasing means is a coiled spring. 